The section of today’s lecture on Rock ‘n’ Roll in the 1950s talked about the tendency of visual media to de-sensationalise musical performances and the way musicians are represented on screen. The creators of variety shows and musical films clearly felt a moral obligation towards their audiences, and seeing as they couldn’t change the songs, controlling the image was clearly the only way to go. Nabeel mentioned that this conservative discourse is still around today. But I do have to wonder what those objectors to Elvis’ pelvis would think of this highly sexualised offering from Christina Aguilera ('Dirrty', David LaChapelle, 2002):
The popularity and commercial importance of music videos today means musicians have a lot more control over how their image is presented. As western societies have become more liberal, so has the content on its screens. We all know that sex sells – that’s why musicians exploit it, and why MTV and C4 will play it. There is very little (if any) desire to tone down the way in which artists choose to express themselves. Even live performances are shot to emphasise the physicality and sexuality of the stars, and are laden with gratuitous close ups of shaking booties and revealing costumes. None of which really has much to do with the music itself.
Of course, music television hasn’t proven itself to be completely without scruples just yet. If you think you can stomach it, here’s the link to Jarvis Cocker’s 'Running the World'. The content itself isn’t even graphic, but the karaoke-style words floating in the clouds spell out the offensive lyrics loud and clear. I think Alt TV’s probably the only channel you’ll find playing this here, although they may well have fallen under the Broadcasting Standards Authority’s radar since going digital…
The popularity and commercial importance of music videos today means musicians have a lot more control over how their image is presented. As western societies have become more liberal, so has the content on its screens. We all know that sex sells – that’s why musicians exploit it, and why MTV and C4 will play it. There is very little (if any) desire to tone down the way in which artists choose to express themselves. Even live performances are shot to emphasise the physicality and sexuality of the stars, and are laden with gratuitous close ups of shaking booties and revealing costumes. None of which really has much to do with the music itself.
Of course, music television hasn’t proven itself to be completely without scruples just yet. If you think you can stomach it, here’s the link to Jarvis Cocker’s 'Running the World'. The content itself isn’t even graphic, but the karaoke-style words floating in the clouds spell out the offensive lyrics loud and clear. I think Alt TV’s probably the only channel you’ll find playing this here, although they may well have fallen under the Broadcasting Standards Authority’s radar since going digital…
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